We are really proud that our very own Cathy Baker visited the House of Lords to represent the Child Mental Health Charter committee, along with the Children’s Alliance to launch the Roles, Routes & Resources document. Roles Routes Resources – A Practical Guide
Visit to The House of Lords for the Education: Insights from Practice for Policy Conference – Hosted by Dr Vicki Veale of St Mary’s University.
I have always been passionate about making a difference to the support available for children and so, when I heard about the CMHC, I knew it was something I needed to be involved with.
Since 2022, I have been a committee member for the CMHC and it is so exciting to look back at the progress and difference we have made over the years. The charter has gone from strength to strength and has presented some amazing opportunities. I have spoken at the PTUK Conference, represented the charter at both the House of Commons and now the House of Lords, our work has been published into journals and papers and I’ve even spoken on the radio! It has, more recently, led to me taking over the roles of ‘Writing Lead’ and ‘Communications Lead’ for the charter.
I was honoured to be invited to attend the Education: Insights from Practice for Policy conference, on behalf of the Child Mental Health Charter, at the House of Parliament to help launch the new Roles and Responsibilities document.
With the change in Government, we saw a change of direction in the conversation around the need for mental health support in school. The labour government, along with the liberal democrats, were all speaking openly about the need for mental health professionals to be employed in schools. However, as we know, mental health is a big field with many different levels of support. I was concerned that, although the conversation within Parliament was heading in the right direction, providing mental health support in schools would become a ‘tick box’ exercise for the Government – with qualifications becoming lost within conversations around funding and practicalities. I was concerned that the Government may not be able to recognise the need and the value in an investment in qualified support, due to the sheer amount of roles within the mental health sector.
I approached the Children’s Alliance with my concerns and, from my seed of an idea, the Children’s Alliance and the National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society have produced this fantastic aid for schools, parents and Government with help from the Working Group that we – at the Child Mental Health Charter – are a part of.
The aim of this publication is to provide a visual aid for the levels of mental health support available for children, along with an easy to follow diagram informing the reader of the process and possible pathways for support. Also included within the document is a simple to read taxonomy of the different mental health support roles and how to ensure that that support is properly qualified – and if relevant, registered with a professional body.
We hope that this will make the process of getting children the support that they need much easier for schools and parents, and that it will help the Government to understand the importance of employing a highly qualified mental health worker in all schools, which would get us one step closer to fulfilling the 6 principles of the Charter.
I attended the House of Lord’s for the launch of the document and represented the Child Mental Health Charter and PTUK at this event. The conference was hosted by Dr Viki Veale and St Mary’s University. It was a wonderful conference, filled with like-minded professional’s keen to make a difference, MP’s and Lord Hastings – keen to hear how they could help to make a difference to the wellbeing of children.
Please do share the document with schools and any other organisations and agencies that you think will find it interesting. It is also a fantastic resource to send to MP’s – to start a conversation around the need for the Child Mental Health Charter and its principles, or even just to keep the charter in their mind.
